Electric railway.



m. 689,8!5. Patented Dem 24, I90I.

a. FOWLER. g ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

(Application mm .Tul 1!, 1000. manna 4 25', 1901.

(No Model.)

THE NORRIS PETERS 60., Puom-Lrmu, WhSHINGTON, u. c.

NiTED STATES PATENT EEreE.

GEORGE L. FOWLER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., AssIcNOR TO THE CEN- TRAL ELECTRICCONSTRUCTION COMPANY, A CORPORATION OE WEST VIRGINIA.

ELECTRIC RAILWAY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 689,815, dated December24, 1901.

Application filed July 18, 1900. Renewed April 25, 1901-. Serial No.67,512. (No model.)

T0 on whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE L. FOWLER, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of the city, county, and Stateof New York, have inventedcertain new and useful Improve-v ments in Electric Railways, of whichthe fol-- lowing is a specification.

My invention relatesto electric railways, and more particularly to thattype of electric railways in which the conductor provided to supplymotive power to the cars is located at or near the surface of theroadway structure.

My invention has for its object to provide for such conductor or thirdrail, as it is sometimes called, a simple and efiicient sup port whichwill permit the necessary relative movement between the conductor andthe roadway structure, also to provide'such a support which isparticularly adapted to be used in connection with the conductors of thedouble-contact variety, also to provide for such a conductor-a cover orshield which will protect the same from the elements and preventaccidental Contact therewith by external objects and which at the sametime will not interfere with the relative movement between the conductorand the roadwaystructure, and to otherwise improve and simplify andrender more practical the construction of electric railways of the typereferred to.

My invention consists in'the novel features of construction andcombination of parts herein described.

.The accompanying drawings, which are referred to herein and form a parthereof, illustrate, by way of example, several embodiments of myinvention and serve, in connec tion with the description herein, toexplain the principles of myinvention and the best mode contemplated byme for applying those principles.

In the drawings,Figure 1 represents a transverse section of theconductor and the shield therefor, taken through one of the supports forthe conductor. Fig. 2 is a side elevation illustrating the relationbetween the supports for the conductor and the shield. Fig. 3 is a planview of the same. Figs. 4 and 5 are perspective views illustratingdetails of the conductor-support, and Fig. 6 is a sectional viewillustrating a modification.

Like reference-numerals refer to like parts.

My invention is particularly adapted to conductors of the double-contact typethat is to say, those conductors which are arrangedbetween the track-rails and are provided with oppositely-arrangedcontact-surfaces adapted to be engaged by a double-contact trolleydevicesuch as that shown, for example, in the patent granted to B. O.Seaton August 30, 1898, Serial No. 610,092. As shown, the conductorconsists of a pair of conductor-rails 1 and 2, of suitable material andcross-section. A series of separated insulating-supports are providedfor the conductor rails, each of which supports comprises a block ofinsulating material 3,which rests directly on a sleeper 4 of the roadwaystructure, and a standard 5, which rests on the block 3, said partsbeing secured in place by suitable bolts or spikes 6. The standards 5are connected to the conductor-rails by means of suitable brackets7,which are provided in the construction shown with upper and lowerseats 8, adapted to engage the oppositely-arranged flanges 9 of theconductor-rails. In electric railways of the type described it isnecessary to provide for a vertical movement between the conductor andthe roadway structure in Order to prevent the rails from being brokenaway from their supports by the inevitable give or yield in the roadwaystructure under the weight of the cars or trains. Vertical movementbetween the conductor and roadway structure is provided in the presentconstruction by loosely connecting the brackets 7 with the standards 5.This is accomplished by providing the standards 5 with suitable undercutor dovetail seats 9, with which the corresponding projections 10 fromthe brackets are adapted to be loosely engaged. By this construction notonly is a vertical movement between the conductor as a whole and theroadway structure provided, but a vertical movement between the sections1 and 2 of the conductor is also proto prevent binding of the bracketstherein, the basesll of the standards are provided with elongatedopenings 12 for the grooves or spikes 6, which openings 12 arepreferably formed on the arc of a circle struck from the center of thestandards In order to protect the conductor from the weather and fromaccidental contact by external objects, a continuous shield 13 isprovided, which shield is extended over the top of both theconductor-rails and is projected laterally therefrom on each side farenough to prevent moisture from dripping onto said rails. The shield, asindicated, is constructed of wood, which is provided with a sheath 14:of sheet metal, having its outer edges 15 turned down around and underthe outer edges of the boards, as illustrated. By this construction thesheath may be secured to the boards forming the shield without the useof screws or other similar fastening devices, which are apt to becomeloose and project above the surface of the shield, where they are apt tobe caught by objects projecting from or dragging beneath the cars. Itwill be seen, therefore, that by this construction a shield having asubstantially continuous and unbroken upper surface is provided. Theshield is preferably supported by a series of supports 16, independentof the conductor-rails l and 2 and the supports therefor, as by thisconstruction the shield will in no wise interfere with the verticalmovement between the conductor and the roadway. The flexibility of theshield will permit of the yielding of the roadway structure as thetrains pass over it without liability of breaking the shield away fromits supports. As so far described the conductor-rails 1 and2 areelectrically connected with each other and are used as a singleconductor. If desired, however, the conductor-rails 1 and 2 may beinsulated from each other and used to conduct the current both to andfrom the motors on the cars, thus forminga closed circuit system. Thismay conveniently be done by insulating one of the conductors from itssupporting-brackets 7, as indicated in Fig. 6, in which 1 indicates theconductor-rail, 7 one of the brackets in which the rail is carried, and17 a suitable block of insulating material embracing the flanges of therail 1 and embraced by the seats 8 of the brackets 7.

WVhile in many of its features my invention is limited to conductors ofthe double-contact type, it is in some of its features applicable toother forms of conductors, and I do not desire to limit myself to theparticular construction herein shown and described or to the particularconstruction by which my invention is carried into effect, as manychanges may be made therein without departing from the principles of myinvention.

WVhat I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. Inan electric railway the combination with a continuous conductor havingoppositely-disposed contact-surfaces, of a continuous shield extendingover saidconductor and supported independently thereof.

2. In an electric railway the combination with a continuous conductorhaving oppositely-disposed contact-surfaces, of a series of supports forsaid conductor, a continuous shield extending over said conductor and anindependent series of supports for said shield.

3. In an electric railway the combination with a continuous conductorcomprising a pair of contact-rails arranged side by side with theircontact-surfaces facing outwardly, of a continuous shield extending oversaid conductor and supported independently thereof.

4. In an electric railway the combination with a continuous conductorcomprising a pair of contact-rails arranged side by side and spacedapart with their contact-surfaces facing outwardly, of a series ofsupports for said conductor, a continuous shield extending over saidconductor, and an independent series of supports for said shieldarranged in the space between said contact-rails.

5. In an electric railway the combination with a continuous conductorhaving oppositely-disposed contact-surfaces, of a series of supportsupon which said conductor is freely supported and a continuous shieldextending over said conductor and supported independently thereof.

6. In an electric railway the combination with a continuous conductorcomprising a pair of contact-rails arranged side by side with theircontact-surfaces facing outwardly, of a series of supports upon whichsaid rails are freely supported, a continuous shield extending over saidconductor, and an independent series of supports for said shield.

7. In an electric railway the combination with a continuous conductorcomprising a pair of contact-rails arranged side by side, and a seriesof independent supports for said contact-rails so constructed that saidrails are freely supported independently of each other.

8. In an electric railway the combination with a continuous conductorcomprising a pair of contact-rails arranged side by side, a series ofindependent supports for said contact-rails so constructed that saidrails are freely supported independently of each other, and a continuousshield extending over said conductor and supported independentlythereof.

9. In an electric railway the combination with a continuous conductorhaving oppositely-disposed contact-surfaces, ofa continuous shieldhaving a substantially continuous and unbroken upper surface, saidshield extending oversaid conductor and supported independently thereof.

10. In an electric railway the combination with a continuous conductorcomprising a pair of contact-rails arranged side by side with theircontact-surfaces facing outwardly, a series of supports for saidconductor, a continuous shield having a substantially continuous andunbroken upper surface, said shield extending over said conductor, andan independent series of supports for said shield.

11. The combination with an electric conductor, comprising a pair ofcontact-rails arranged side by side, of a support therefor consisting ofa standard, and independent connections between said standard and saidrails.

12. The combination with an electric railway comprising a pair ofcontact-rails arranged side by side, of .a support therefor consistingof a standard, and independent connections between said standard andsaid rails, said connections being loosely retained on said standard.

13. The combination with an electric conductor comprising a pair ofcontact-rails arranged side by side, of a support therefor,

GEORGE L. FOWLER.

Witnesses:

EDWIN SEGER, J. H. FREEMAN.

